


BFFs Don't Make Good Boats

by writingfromdarkplaces



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor, Jake never cheated, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 07:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8658367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingfromdarkplaces/pseuds/writingfromdarkplaces
Summary: Jake's first effort under Gibbs' woodworking tutelage is not as good as he'd thought it was.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was unable to write a decent scene for my crossover, I read up on the episode I didn't watch, and I got a little depressed. So I decided I needed some Jake/Ellie fluff with a bit of the team along, and since I haven't finished formulating my ideas for other sequels or yet another AU, this is what I came up with, just a short piece before bed.

* * *

“You know... for it being Gibbs, I expected better craftsmanship,” Tony mused, looking at the ripples in the water.

“I'm sure the fault has to be mine,” Jake said, frowning. He shook his head, and Ellie wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look this devastated before, which was kind of odd in one respect but also not because Jake buried the real hurts so deep even she missed them sometimes.

“Maybe it's the water,” Abby suggested. “There could be a property to it that damages wood or could react to the varnish and made your boat unseaworthy.”

Jake looked at her, grimacing. “You don't actually have to say that to spare my feelings.”

“Well, no one is denying that it sank,” Tony told him. “Because it did. It sank faster than the _Titanic._ Just straight to the bottom, boom.”

“It didn't explode,” McGee said. “Though... a part of me wonders if maybe that is the whole point of the boat.”

“What, to sink?” Jake asked, confused. “Why would Gibbs spend so much time on something that would never sail? He was really frustrated as he was teaching me, so why would he do all that just to let it sink?”

“He never says how he got them out of his basement,” Tony said, frowning. “Though I suppose that still doesn't explain what McGee's thinking. Assuming he does get them out... he sinks them?”

“We never did find any records that he sold them or rents dock space anywhere.”

“That is very true,” Abby agreed. “He doesn't seem to, so what does he do with the boats?”

They all looked back at the water where Jake's model boat had sunk so ingloriously under the water, silence settling over them for a moment.

Ellie wrapped her arm around her husband's, trying to console him. “It _was_ a beautiful boat.”

“It was,” the others agreed.

“Yeah,” Jake said, and Ellie looked up at him, silently prompting him to tell her what was bothering him now. It was more than the boat sinking. It had to be. Was he worried about disappointing Gibbs or was this something else?

“Jake?”

“Promise me you will never tell my mother I named the boat after her.”

Ellie couldn't help it. She laughed.


End file.
